The Courage to Lead - Personal Brand & Self Advocacy
In our last session at Stripe, together with Aleodor Tabarcea, we kicked off the last track of the Upskilling The Romanian IT Industry pilot — Self Leadership & Strategic Vision.
We talked about the necessary mindset shift from execution to strategy at all levels, because strategy is no longer the high-level config file that only leadership has write access to.
Courage was also mentioned multiple times, across multiple sessions, as being part of that mindset.
So it only feels natural that in our next session together, hosted by DB Global Technology, Deutsche Bank’s technology center in Bucharest, we are going to tackle another topic:
Courage to Lead - Personal Brand and Self Advocacy.
There are many myths around personal branding — whether it’s about charisma, or the idea that these things only matter for people high up on the corporate ladder, or on their way there.
But personal brand is simply the impression we leave on others. The more unconscious we are about our personal brand, the more blind spots we have, and the more we feel that people don’t truly see or understand us.
Consciously owning your personal brand means aligning it with your values and core principles, while also treating external feedback and signals from the environment as valuable inputs.
Self advocacy is probably the most misunderstood power skill of the pack. It is often seen as bragging or being political — and the list can go on.
Join us in exploring how these traits have evolved in the modern era and how they can be addressed at all levels.
Agenda
- Welcome & Context
- Open Talk with:
- Anca Ivancu — Tech Lead CIO AFC @ DB Global Technology
- Paul Alexandru Chiriță - Sr. Director, Head of Creativity & Productivity Romania @ Adobe Romania
- Tiberiu Anghel — Chief Information Security Officer @ Noz Universe
Moderated by Anne Dumitrache
- Interactive Workshop — Anne Dumitrache — Trainer, Coach, and Organizational Psychologist
- Networking Session
Speaker Bios
Anca Ivancu has over 20 years of professional experience across the telecom and financial services industries, with a strong focus on IT delivery and transformation. Throughout this time, she has built deep expertise in business analysis, project and programme management, and the delivery of complex, large-scale technology initiatives in highly regulated environments.
Anca currently leads a local organization of more than 200 professionals, operating as part of a broader international AFC IT team, with a mandate to design, deliver, and run critical technology solutions that support the bank’s efforts in combating financial crime. In this role, she combines strategic leadership with hands-on oversight of delivery, stakeholder management, and cross-regional collaboration, ensuring alignment between business objectives, regulatory expectations, and technology execution.
Paul Chiriță leads the Creativity & Productivity Organization in Adobe Romania, driving product and engineering for Adobe Express, for Adobe’s Generative AI initiatives such as the Firefly Design Model and Firefly Custom Models, and contributing to Adobe Stock and to multiple Creative Cloud Services. He has been at the helm of Digital Media Romania since early 2016, and throughout his tenure he grew his team more than 10x, while also acting as a GM for Adobe Business Catalyst and overseeing product and engineering for Adobe XD. Prior to Adobe, Paul has been active in the search engine industry for several years. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Retrieval and Machine Learning from the University of Hannover in Germany and has studied Computer Science at both Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and the Politehnica University in Bucharest.
Tiberiu Anghel has 15 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry, focusing on building security operations and cybersecurity capabilities. He has built start-ups, worked within global organizations, and developed communities within the Romanian cybersecurity space.
Throughout his career, Tiberiu has pivoted multiple times in the pursuit of the right professional path, gaining knowledge, experience, and expertise not only in security and technology, but also across multiple business support functions as part of his leadership journey.
Tiberiu is currently the Chief Information Security Officer for Noz Universe, where he leads the planning, development, and management of the company’s global information security program.
Anne Dumitrache is an experienced trainer, organizational, cognitive-behavioral, and clinical psychologist, as well as an internationally certified coach. With 18 years in the IT industry — from developer to program manager for Fortune 500 companies — and more than 14 years in leadership, she brings deep expertise in people management and organizational growth.
Anne is the creator of the Build Better Leaders Academy, now at its 40th edition with nearly 200 leaders trained, and has designed impactful programs on leadership, the future of soft skills, mental health, diversity and inclusion, hybrid working, mentoring, and personal development.